Drinking and driving among teens has dropped by significantly over the last 20 years, due in large part to stricter zero-tolerance laws, the graduated drivers license program, and a change in the social perception of drinking and driving.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the number of teens who drive after drinking has dropped by 54% since 1991. The study surveyed teens as well as examined blood alcohol results from fatal crashes involving teens, and the results indicated that 10.3% of high school students 16 or older reported drinking and driving in the last month, compared to 22.3% in 1991. CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden was pleased with the results, but also said there is room for improvement. “We are moving in the right direction, but we have to keep up the momentum,” said Frieden.

The CDC credited a nationwide legal drinking age of 21, as well as stricter zero-tolerance laws in curbing the teen drinking trend. Frieden also acknowledged that the graduated drivers license program (GDL), which limits amount of passengers and the hours a teen can drive, has also been a rousing success. “We've seen teen driving fatalities fall by nearly 40% in less than five years because of GDL laws as well as other interventions,” said Frieden.

Frieden also noted that the social perception of drinking and driving has changed over the last 20 years. “There is a broader recognition that drinking and driving is not O.K.,” said Frieden. “There is now a sense that friends don’t let friends drive drunk.”

Related Sources:

Time

Newspaper Ethics

Recently, the Wisconsin Badgers football team punched its ticket to the Rose Bowl, and event which should have bee cause for celebration. An hour after the announcement was made official in ESPN, the University of Wisconsin released a select amount of student tickets for the game in Pasadena. I was unaware of this fact, but many students knew about the cheap tickets and tried frantically to secure two tickets to the game. After it was all said and done, a lot of unhappy badger fans walked away without a ticket to the game. What happened next really made me mad.

Our student newspaper, The Badger Herald, wrote an article listing the names of students who had listed their tickets for sale on Facebook with huge markups within the first 24 hours of purchasing them. Here’s a link to the article,  http://badgerherald.com/oped/2010/12/05/the_worst_people_on_.php which tells fellow students to harass these people, the ‘worst people on campus’. Get off your high horse. Someone is a little bitter they couldn’t get tickets, but they have no right to condemn their fellow students. They went through the same process as everyone else, and but their tickets fair and square. What they do with them afterwards shouldn’t be the Badger Heralds’ business.

Here’s a few reasons why I was so ticked off,

1). WE’RE IN COLLEGE! Name me one student who couldn’t use a few hundred bucks during this time of their life. If you can make a quick hundred bucks that will pay next month’s rent, can anyone really blame you. Apparently everyone in the Badger Herald has their college paid for.

2). If you’re going to the Rose Bowl, you’re already lucky, quit bitching. The Herald said these people were ruining a ‘once in a lifetime event’. Now I’m not sure about you, but this will mark the third time in my life that the Badgers will play for the Rose Bowl. Don’t use cliches to pull at people’s emotions when your statements aren’t true. If that extra $200 is really the difference between someone attending the Rose Bowl, tough luck, but the majority of the students heading out to California in the middle of a cold Wisconsin winter are doing so on mommy and daddy’s dime. Flight and hotel have already been put on their credit cards, I feel so bad that you couldn’t do the whole trip for $150. I don’t feel sorry for anyone going to the game without a cheap ticket in hand.

3) If you don’t want to pay $400, then don’t. If everyone boycotted paying the high markup on tickets, prices would go down. But people are willing to pay $400 to go and watch the Badgers, which is the exact reason everyone tried to get tickets, because they knew they could sell them and make some cash.

4) How is this any different than any other Badger football game? I sold my Ohio State ticket for $150, then bought one for $100. Am I a terrible person? By the Badger Herald’s standards, I should be condemned by my peers. This whole situation boils down to one disgruntled writer, and an editor who let a stupid story fly.

I used to write for the Herald and I am glad to say I’m not associated with the publication now that this story came out. How does someone let this get printed. It wouldn’t surprise me if they soon found a lawsuit on their hands, because you can’t print names of people and tell others to harass them.

Maybe I’m Wrong

In my last post, I wondered if the advancement of the DVR has had an effect on commercial prices. I found an article that ran contrary to my beliefs. Now, I’m a Duke basketball fan,  but a study conducted at the university lists some stats that I don’t necessarily believe.  Here’s the link.  http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/05/03/daily6.html

Is Tivo killing advertisers?

 

The first stat that jumps out at me is the one that says ’95 percent of people still watch live TV’. Sure, I’ll watch my Packers or Badgers live, and therefore I can’t fast forward through commercials, but I honestly cannot remember the last time I watched a live network television show. I watch Survivor, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Community, and I know that I have not watched any of those shows live this season. Even if I’m home at the right time, I’ll do something else for a little while just so I can fast forward through the commercials.

The next argument is that people are still watching the commercials because they need to realize when they can press play to resume their show after a commercial. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t fast forward at 2x speed. I fast forward the fastest way possible on my DVR, at 5x speed. At 5x speed, one second of normal time is one minute of DVR time. Usually commercial breaks last 3-4 minutes, and by that math when I fast forward, I’m exposed to 3-4 seconds of advertising. Sorry Duke, I don’t have super vision and am not exposed to these commercials when I fast forward. Also, the loop back button allows me to get back to right after the commercial break with a few clicks of the button if I fast forward too far, so there’s no need watch any commercials.

Maybe I’m in the minority, but I’m guessing your TV watching isn’t much different than mine. Drop me a comment if you want.

The Disappearance of Appointment Television

 Besides sporting events, when was the last time anybody sat down to watch a TV show during its normal time slot? I can’t remember the last time I planned my night around a certain TV show, although I certainly remember I time when I did. The advancement of the Digital Video Recorder, or DVR, has eliminated the need for appointment television. Even better, it’s eliminated the need to watch commercials.

My DVR fills up Wednesday and Thursday night, when new episodes of Survivor, Big Bang Theory, The Office, 30 Rock, Always Sunny, and The League fill up space. I usually try to finish homework Thursday night, and since I don’t have class Friday, Friday mornings are my DVR watching days. I can watch an hour long episode in 38 minutes, and half hour shows usually drop to 20 minutes or so. I can save over an hour of my life because of my DVR, an hour that would normally be spent watching commercials.

Lastly, the DVR has opened me up to shows that I wouldn’t normally watch. Without a DVR, I’d make time each Thursday to watch The Office and The League, but I wouldn’t die if I missed any of the other shows. But because I can stay at the library, or go out with friends, then zip through the show in almost half the time, I’ll record a few more shows.

So although I’m not the biggest proponent of Charter, the two DVR boxes at our apartment allow everyone to watch their favorite shows on their own time. I’d be interested to see if advertising spot prices have dropped due to the increasing popularity of the DVR.

The Best Apps Out There

 

I purchased an ITouch about a month ago, and I’ve completely fallen in love with it. Since I have a Blackberry for a phone, this was my first experience with a touch screen, and I will never go back to a trackball. Although I’m still relatively new to the Apple world, I want to pass along some of the best apps I’ve stumbled upon.

Favorite App – Angry Birds. If you have an IPhone or ITouch and don’t have Angry Birds, you’re missing out. The goal is to slingshot a variety of birds towards a group of pigs who are often protected by different items. You need to make all the pigs disappear before you run out of birds to pass the level. With over 150 levels, including Halloween and Christmas updates, this game is worth the .99 cent price tag.

Most Useful App – TGI Black Friday App. I know this is a little late and no longer serves its practical purpose, I’m sure an app like it will come out for the holiday season. The TGI Black Friday app collected the Black Friday prices of thousands of different items throughout hundreds of different stores, and found which store had the lowest price. I wanted another PlayStation 3 controller. Best Buy price, $54.99. Toys R Us price, $32.99. I never would have thought to go to Toys R Us, but this free app saved me 40% on my first use.

Close But Not Quite There – Scanner. I love the idea of this app. You can scan the barcode of any item and find the store that has it for the cheapest price. The fact that the app can read a barcode though my ITouch camera is simply astounding. It doesn’t read it every time, but you can also manually enter the barcode number. The problem with this app is that you need internet access to find the cheapest price, and rarely do department stores have free wireless. It was worth a chance for the price (.99 cents), but the app has yet to save me any money.

Basic Necessities – Tie, Facebook/Twitter. One touch access to status feeds and new tweets is awesome. I recently joined twitter and now I can follow everybody at the touch of a button. Both these apps are free, and a must have.

What Can and Can’t You Say on Social Media Sites

As social media sites become more and more popular, people need to be more concious about what they post online.  Recently, woman was fired for posting comments about her boss.  This begs the question, what is acceptable to post on a Facebook and Twitter account, and is it justifiable and legal for a company to fire you for your comments?

The story   http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2372467,00.asp

Personally, I think it depends on what is said, but generally anything you post openly to these social media websites should be considered the same as being said in the workplace.  In this instance, the woman clearly crossed the line.  She called her boss a “dick” and a “scumbag”, and was fired for repeated behaviorial issues, but these comments definatley played a role in her termination.

What do you think?  Should she have been fired?  What constitutes “over the line” in the social media world?  Leave me a comment.

Check Out My Other Site

Hey guys, If you’re into sports, I blog weekly for a website called www.brentfavre.com.  We pretty much talk all things football and rip on the old geezer for retiring and unretiring every other day.  Check it out!